Who we are: Undercurrents is an award winning production company specialising in producing and distributing DVD compilations reflecting UK & global counter-culture.

We are a non-profit company mostly working with video makers and communities who have been marginalised or overlooked by TV broadcasters. We focus on social and environmental justice issues. While we may support a campaign groups wider aims, we remain entirely independent from any campaign group or political party. You can read a short history of Undercurrents here.

A year which saw the introduction of a ‘draconian’ Criminal Justice Bill (CJB) – aimed at making direct action protest a criminal act, taking away the right to silence, making squatting a disused building a crime, and choosing an alternative lifestyle an imprisonable offence.

This was the arena for Undercurrents, a non-profit organisation, to step into and offer media support to grassroots direct action campaign groups. We worked out of a cramped bedroom in North London with just a basic edit suite and a couple of borrowed camcorders. We were a couple of frustrated TV producers and a handful of environmental activists who began work on what would become the country’s most recognised ‘alternative news service distributed via video cassette.’

1994: ‘Undercurrents the alternative news video issue 1′ is released on VHS tape on April 1st (Fools’ Day). Most notable feature included the country’s first video feature informing about the imminent introduction of the CJB.

The first batch of 250 tapes run out in a matter of weeks and press reviews are very positive. The Guardian tells readers that “Undercurrents shocks, informs and exposes.” We move into a resource centre in Archway in North London, sharing with other campaign groups.

The Camcorder Action Network is set up to co-ordinate the increasing number of video activists getting in touch. Undercurrents 2 is released in December, with six first time video activists making their first campaign videos. Undercurrents wins its first of many international awards with first prize in the prestigious German OKOmedia festival.